In recent decades, our understanding of archives has evolved beyond the familiar, institutional archive carefully tended to by a small group of trained professionals. Movements such as...Show moreIn recent decades, our understanding of archives has evolved beyond the familiar, institutional archive carefully tended to by a small group of trained professionals. Movements such as postcolonialism and postcustodialism, combined with the digital turn, have allowed interest in other, less conventional forms of archiving to emerge. As such, the concept of an archival continuum (that is, the understanding of archives as evolving and participatory systems rather than fixed institutions) has been accepted by archival scholarship. This thesis investigates whether printed family memoirs that incorporate visual material from family archives can be placed along said archival continuum. Four such memoirs – The Hare with Amber Eyes (2010), In Memory of Memory (2018), Heimat: A German Family Album (2018), and Letters to Camondo (2021) – have been selected as case studies by which to examine their potential archival and evidentiary value. Each memoir is a work of postmemory – following Marianne Hirsch, the authors are processing generational trauma passed down as a result of the Holocaust. I argue that it is not only the narratives that lend them archival value, but also their inclusion of archival material. As I will show, understanding published memoirs as archives supports an expanded recognition of non-professional memory work as archival. Importantly, the increased accessibility of published memoirs to a general audience versus that of conventional archives allows for greater interaction with the preserved objects, and so aids in supporting the societal memorialization of the Holocaust. By focusing on the paper editions of the books, I am able to examine the unique benefits and challenges of the printed book as a form of accessible archive and memory object.Show less
Cyclically driving subharmonic units can result in emergent memory effects, and such systems have the potential to store information and perform computations. For this reason, we numerically...Show moreCyclically driving subharmonic units can result in emergent memory effects, and such systems have the potential to store information and perform computations. For this reason, we numerically investigated the response to cyclic driving of two linearly coupled toggling bits, which are an inherently subharmonic unit. We found that there are 380 topologically distinct two-t-bit systems. Cyclic driving sometimes resulted in subharmonic responses with emergent periods of T=3 and T=4, as well as nonzero transients (tau>0). A variety of different orbits is possible, but the behavior (tau, T)=(0, 2) inherent to the single toggling bit, remains common in systems of two t-bits. A period of T=4 already occurred for weakly coupled systems that can be manufactured in experiments. We also found the restriction that tau + T < 4. Lastly, we conclude that coupling strength strongly affects the likelihood of avalanches occurring. The findings demonstrate both the capabilities and limitations of coupled toggling bits, which will valuable for future research.Show less
Post-photography, similar to the post-archival, can be considered a consequence of the change in how we relate to memory and history. As a result of the abundance of information, accelerated by...Show morePost-photography, similar to the post-archival, can be considered a consequence of the change in how we relate to memory and history. As a result of the abundance of information, accelerated by social media and the Internet, representations of the past have changed drastically. As a result, the way we memorize the past is under severe duress. This thesis focuses on these representations of the past, specifically on contemporary representations of archival material. It first discusses the conjunction of documentary photography and artworks concerning the archive. After this, it turns to two case studies to adequately analyse contemporary changes in the content and aesthetics of photographic as well as archival practices. In the analysis of Walid Raad’s The Atlas Group and Max Pinckers’ and MMWVA’s (Mau Mau War Veterans Associations) Unhistories, special attention is paid to important photographic concepts such as time and space. Essentially, it will offer insights into how representation and association of archival events can be reframed and remediated using photography. This research will also offer insights into the political value of aesthetic and formal reactions on the photographic archive as an institution and as a means of representation.Show less
In 1572 is Zutphen het toneel van een burgeroorlog. In juni vindt de stad aansluiting bij de Opstand van Willem van Oranje en Willem van den Bergh, dankzij hulp van binnenuit. In november wordt de...Show moreIn 1572 is Zutphen het toneel van een burgeroorlog. In juni vindt de stad aansluiting bij de Opstand van Willem van Oranje en Willem van den Bergh, dankzij hulp van binnenuit. In november wordt de stad door het regeringsleger van Alva en don Fadrique heroverd en gestraft voor de opstandigheid. Volgens verhalen uit de latere herinneringscultuur vindt er dan een bloedbad onder de burgerbevolking plaats. Deze scriptie laat zien dat dit verhaal het product is van eigentijdse geruchten en propaganda, en gepolitiseerde herinneringspraktijken in de zeventiende eeuw. De lokale herinneringscultuur is een modern verschijnsel. Het aanvankelijke uitblijven van een lokale herinneringstraditie wordt verklaard door het ontbreken van belanghebbenden en de werking van vergetelheidclausules in amnestieregelingen als het Generaal Pardon (1574) en de Pacificatie van Gent (1576). Wat is er dan wel gebeurd? In werkelijkheid wordt het garnizoen Waalse huurlingen ter dood veroordeeld. Voor de Zutphenaren is 1572 (in hun woorden) vooral een 'ellendig jaar', waarbij de nadruk niet vanzelfsprekend op de gebeurtenissen in november ligt.Show less
Instagram influences our perception and manipulates what we buy, think, and engage with. This has contributed to the digitalization of art and a shift in the shaping of our collective perceptions...Show moreInstagram influences our perception and manipulates what we buy, think, and engage with. This has contributed to the digitalization of art and a shift in the shaping of our collective perceptions of the past. Previous research has indicated that artists and cultural memory are intertwined. Likewise, it demonstrated that social media and cultural memory are connected. However, literature on cultural memory theory has rarely been developed in context of academic research of the combination of artists and social media. This thesis will use qualitative research methods and the theories of Halbwachs’ collective memory, Warburg’s social memory and Nora’s sites of memory in addition to other expert’s analysis to investigate how contemporary artists’ use of Instagram affects the theory of cultural memory. The combination of this research illuminates that artists and their fans are in the unique position to create a visible anchor of memory by shaping or viewing Instagram as a carefully curated exhibition site. This thesis’ purpose is to add value to memory studies, social media research and art history literature streams by taking insights from cultural memory research and applying it to social media research.Show less
This thesis critically approaches the notion of nostalgia as a site for negotiating the way communities in Ladakh reproduce the past in the present. Multiple nostalgias are explored and the various...Show moreThis thesis critically approaches the notion of nostalgia as a site for negotiating the way communities in Ladakh reproduce the past in the present. Multiple nostalgias are explored and the various nostalgic postures are unpacked as they encounter and engage with modernity. The aim is to understand through ethnographic analysis, the temporalities within which nostalgia occurs and the interplay between nostalgia and cultural practices that provide a site to study how the past is maintained in the present.Show less
In ancient thought memory has long been regarded as a magnificent instrument of the soul. Up until this point, it has remained a rather open question to what extent Augustine draws from Neoplatonic...Show moreIn ancient thought memory has long been regarded as a magnificent instrument of the soul. Up until this point, it has remained a rather open question to what extent Augustine draws from Neoplatonic sources and possibly from Roman mnemotechnics, as well as from developments of contemporary Christian doctrine in in order to structure and formulate his thought on memory. Although Augustine thematises the concept of memory throughout his literary works, book X of the Confessions stands out as a definite and original analysis of memory. In it, we see how Augustine traverses the vast spaces of his memory, retrieving from its hidden recesses all kinds of mental images and objects, his past experiences, himself, his forgetfulness, with the aim to find God, whom he could not find in the world around him. Interestingly, book X presents us not just with an extensive theory of memory as a cognitive function, but as the place through which we attain knowledge of the highest Being, namely God. In this thesis I will attempt to address the extent to which Augustine’s analysis of memory in Book X of his Confessions is influenced by and differs from the Ancient Western philosophical tradition that went before him through three different themes: i) the structure by which we attain Beauty, ii) the objects of memory and iii) the metaphysics of Being in memory. All themes lend themselves for comparative analysis. The Form of Beauty is for Plato, and later for Plotinus not something immanently graspable. We need to go through some process, that is characterized as an ascent in order to attain it. Likewise, Augustine traverses memory in search of God, who is Beauty in an apparently similar fashion. Chapter 2 will engage with the structure of the ascent in order to answer the question whether Augustine views our reconciliation with God as a like-mannered ascent. In Chapter 3, another comparison is made, now on the subject of memory proper, specifically with regard to its function and objects. A classical text by Aristotle, De Memoria, although probably unknown to Augustine, offers nonetheless one of the most comprehensive competing theories on memory. The comparison sets out to establish the key differences between the texts, with which we can more firmly argue for Augustine’s originality. Finally, chapter 4 seeks out the “metaphysics” discussed in book X. Augustine addresses the Being of God in a distinctly Christian manner, which differs extensively from Plotinus’ metaphysical views on the One. The overall picture that emerges from this thesis is that book X of the Confessions contains persisting Neoplatonic traces that Augustine either incorporates into a Christian framework, or discontinues altogether in order to bring into light the Being of God. Memory is set at the core of human cognition, as the place that we traverse in search of God, and in which we predict, imagine, contemplate. In it we find memories that haunt us, but also those that bring delight and hope. Ultimately, happiness can only be attained beyond memory, by finding it in TruthShow less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
closed access
Aan de hand van een selectie gedichten uit Britse oorlogspoëzie wordt onderzocht hoe in deze werken een keerpunt gezien kan worden in de Britse visie op de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Door middel van...Show moreAan de hand van een selectie gedichten uit Britse oorlogspoëzie wordt onderzocht hoe in deze werken een keerpunt gezien kan worden in de Britse visie op de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Door middel van memory studies en reflectie op contemporaine herdenkingen wordt geanalyseerd hoe deze nieuwe visie nog steeds dominant is in het Brits cultureel geheugen.Show less
Colour. A colour, the colour, any colour. Colour in everyday life. Coloured things that individuals use regularly. Colour on the walls, colour in the frames. Colour in the photographs. Colour on...Show moreColour. A colour, the colour, any colour. Colour in everyday life. Coloured things that individuals use regularly. Colour on the walls, colour in the frames. Colour in the photographs. Colour on the multiple screens. Colour in media and films. Furthermore, via things, colour has this potential to speak and evoke memory. In this thesis, I discuss how colour links with memory. More precisely, I analyse how coloured things work as memory’s mediators in two films: And the Wife shall Revere her Husband (1965), and The Red Balloon (1956). In the first case, I claim that coloured things can evoke memory, while in the second, how coloured things work as memes that create memory. In this process, my personal stories assisted me to approach colour in this way. Colours work within a network with their surroundings. In the following pages, I reflect on my own past experiences and I claim that colour and memory have an indisputable connection.Valuable theories and methods from different disciplines, such as media and film studies, sociology and philosophy, stand by my side in this journey. Colours are endless and constant. Without any further delay, allow me to remember and analyse moments through a rainbow costume, a homemade pie, a white hat, and a red balloon.Show less
In the following thesis, the following research question was analyzed What kind of images and representations regarding women were depicted through monuments in Flanders after (and during) the...Show moreIn the following thesis, the following research question was analyzed What kind of images and representations regarding women were depicted through monuments in Flanders after (and during) the First World War and why such depictions came to the existence? Through the means of the MCDA analysis, it was concluded that women are represented in the gendered terms in the literal and figurative terms. Women’s “feminine” traits and biological preconditions justify the notions of nationhood and the reasoning of the nation to enter the war, neglecting more accurate representation of the history and role of the women in the war.Show less
This thesis demonstrates the value of using everyday material culture in producing exhibition narratives. This is done by an in depth analysis of one particular case study, “Sour Sweet Bitter Spicy...Show moreThis thesis demonstrates the value of using everyday material culture in producing exhibition narratives. This is done by an in depth analysis of one particular case study, “Sour Sweet Bitter Spicy: Stories of Chinese Food and Identity in America” by the Museum of Chinese in America (NY). The exhibition aimed at representing the multiplicity of Chinese cuisine in the States, as well as the discussions regarding the definition of authenticity in cuisine and more generally culture. The thesis interprets food first as a frame to identity, an example of Derriderean parergon: food both shapes and is shaped by cultural identity. Statements by chefs and home cooks who were interviewed for the exhibition are analysed in order to support this perspective. In a second moment, the thesis considers the materiality of food as the element which enables the visitor to establish, through synaesthesia, an empathic connection with the stories narrated in the museum. Overall, this thesis aims at enhancing the power of material culture in creating exhibitions which combine the theoretical and abstract with the physical reality which we perceive through our senses and bear great impact on our lives and our perception of the world.Show less
The thesis looks closer at vernacular photography, a record of the everyday created by common people, as one of the most common ways in which photographic images are created. By using the specific...Show moreThe thesis looks closer at vernacular photography, a record of the everyday created by common people, as one of the most common ways in which photographic images are created. By using the specific example of the family photographic collection of John “Zbyszek” Jagla, a Polish refugee born in Uganda, the thesis examines different dimensions of photographic meaning. The analysis draws on research from within the field of photographic theory and applies those theories and approaches to demonstrate the ways in which photographs carry their own meaning, both as images and as objects, and how that meaning changes not just over time but also depending on their context and who is viewing them and why.Show less
In this thesis, I have analysed the encoding of cultural attitudes in the translation of post-war retrospective fiction, as displayed in the speech and thought presentation of the characters in...Show moreIn this thesis, I have analysed the encoding of cultural attitudes in the translation of post-war retrospective fiction, as displayed in the speech and thought presentation of the characters in Erwin Mortier’s 1999 Flemish novel, Marcel. The novel contains a fascinating insight into the cultural attitudes of everyday Belgian citizens who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. For the purposes of my research, I have used Antoine Berman’s 1985 model of translation tendencies in order to identify and subsequently analyse the effect of the process of translation on the representation of the cultural attitudes of the Belgian collaborators as displayed the English translation of the novel when juxtaposed with the original Flemish version of the novel. In my final analysis, I have both justified the importance of the source text over the translation in its irreplaceability with regard to the conveyance of cultural attitude. In addition to this, I have drawn fresh conclusions about the role and function of the translations of culturally-bound source texts. More specifically, I have highlighted the status of culturally-bound works of post-war fiction as foreign texts in their own right. In doing so, I have argued that these texts serve to make more explicit the cultural attitudes displayed in original works of post-war fiction.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
In 2013, the re-opened Nanjing Museum added the Gallery of the Scene of the Republican Period (abbreviated as the Republican Gallery) to its permanent exhibition. This research attempts to explore...Show moreIn 2013, the re-opened Nanjing Museum added the Gallery of the Scene of the Republican Period (abbreviated as the Republican Gallery) to its permanent exhibition. This research attempts to explore the curatorial aim by examining the conceptualization of this exhibition hall. It suggests that the Republican Gallery has simplified the nature of Republican China and presented a selected, idealized Republican street view which the public is familiar with through mass media. By examining the Republican Gallery, the research expects to achieve a better understanding of the connection between memory and museums.Show less
This dissertation considers Scotland's response to the 2007 bicentenary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, in the context of memory and museum studies. It considers to what degree...Show moreThis dissertation considers Scotland's response to the 2007 bicentenary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, in the context of memory and museum studies. It considers to what degree Scotland's response was aligned to an agenda of social justice - and how Scotland is slowly 'waking up' to its slavery past during a time of revived Scottish nationalism.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
closed access
This thesis examines the ways in which the history of 1965-66 is remembered and represented in contemporary Indonesia, both in national public space and among a group of high school pupils in...Show moreThis thesis examines the ways in which the history of 1965-66 is remembered and represented in contemporary Indonesia, both in national public space and among a group of high school pupils in Yogyakarta. The history of 1965-66, a history of mass killings and imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of alleged communist Indonesians, has for a long time been silenced and mystified by anti-communist myth-making that was created under Suharto’s authoritarian rule. Despite the end of Suharto’s regime in 1998 and numerous attempts to counter the state propaganda, this master-narrative that labels victims as perpetrators deserving of their fate is still widely available in contemporary Indonesian state and society. This thesis examines how and why master- and counter-narratives of “1965” continue to exist and circulate in Indonesia today. By combining a focus on contestations of the past in public space with research into the perceptions of the younger generation in particular, it explores how the politics of memory work in everyday practice. A survey conducted among 170 high school pupils in Yogyakarta provides unique insight into the highly complex and problematic ways in which the history of 1965-66 is remembered by a group of young Indonesians today. Thereby, this thesis provides further insight into the lasting legacies of mass violence in post-authoritarian Indonesia.Show less
After the death of Franco in 1975, Spain undertook a process of democratization (The Transition). In many aspects, this process constituted a great example for many other democratic transitions....Show moreAfter the death of Franco in 1975, Spain undertook a process of democratization (The Transition). In many aspects, this process constituted a great example for many other democratic transitions. However, some shadows still overflies the political system emanated from that process. During the decade of the 2000's, many associations started a process for the recuperation of those forgotten through the 'Pact of Silence': a tacit agreement by the main political actors of The Transition, which left aside the memory of the victims of the dictatorship, in order to consolidate a weak emerging democracy. This social demands finally generated a Law of Historical Memory (2007). However, many political and social sectors in Spain considered it as insufficient. With the change of government, in 2012, this law was 'de facto' derogated. The spanish recent memory, then, constitutes an active weapon in the spanish political battlefield; still nowadays, and despite the law. This thesis, through oral interviews to testimonies of different generations, seeks for the differences in the discourse about the historical memory between those who lived The Transition, and those who did not. Does it exist a generational gap? And, in case of being affirmative this question, could it entail some political consequences?Show less
This thesis draws on postcolonial theory and Taiwanese history to provide an in-depth analysis of language and memory in Edward Yang's 1991 "A Brighter Summer Day". It argues that nation's project...Show moreThis thesis draws on postcolonial theory and Taiwanese history to provide an in-depth analysis of language and memory in Edward Yang's 1991 "A Brighter Summer Day". It argues that nation's project of language and memory --- discourse claiming the nation to be linguistically and historically homogenous and unified --- is challenged exactly through language and memory, by drawing attention to linguistic discrepancies and individual memories that challenge the official narrative. This ultimately challenges fixed binary notions of identity such as "(mainland) Chinese" versus "Taiwanese".Show less
In this thesis, the necessary elements to build up a quantum switch, the central element in a quantum random access memory, are proposed and analyzed. A network with quantum switches at its nodes...Show moreIn this thesis, the necessary elements to build up a quantum switch, the central element in a quantum random access memory, are proposed and analyzed. A network with quantum switches at its nodes forms the bifurcation path that leads an address register from a root node to an array of memory cells, activating, quantum coherently, only the quantum switches that the register encounters in its path to the memory cells. Transmon qubits and SQUIDs are used to design a superconducting device capable of routing a register of microwave photons through a bifurcation network, allowing for superposition of paths. In order to give rise to all the required interactions between the device and the address register, a non-linear capacitor, composed of two plates with carbon nanotubes in between, is introduced into the transmon. The dynamic operation of the quantum switch is analyzed using Langevin equations and a scattering approach, and probabilities of reflection and transmission of photons by (or through) the switch are computed, both for single- and two-photon processes. Computations show that, with parameters taken from up-to-date similar devices, probabilities of success are above 94%. Applications of quantum random access memories are discussed, as well as other applications of quantum switches. Also, solutions are proposed to the challenges that emerge during the study of the dynamics of the quantum switch.Show less
